Explores how Jewish American writers have grappled with the enormity of the Holocaust.
In Crisis and Covenant, Alan L. Berger delivers a powerful and thought-provoking exploration of how American Jewish fiction has grappled with the cataclysm of the Holocaust. Situating literature at the crossroads of memory, theology, and identity, Berger examines how post-Auschwitz Jewish writers reinterpret the ancient concept of Covenant in light of unprecedented historical trauma.
Through nuanced readings of major American Jewish authors—including Saul Bellow, Cynthia Ozick, Bernard Malamud, Elie Wiesel, Philip Roth, and others—Berger traces the transformation of Jewish thought from religious and secular perspectives, exploring how the Holocaust serves as both a rupture and a point of reflection in modern Jewish narrative. He addresses the crucial question: Can fiction truly represent the Holocaust, and if so, what responsibilities do Jewish writers bear?
Divided into thematic responses—religious, secular, and symbolic—Crisis and Covenant reveals how these authors wrestle with Jewish identity, memory, and survival in a world shadowed by genocide. Blending literary criticism with theological inquiry, Berger presents a compelling study that challenges easy categorizations and opens new avenues for understanding American Jewish literature and its ongoing dialogue with history.
Table des matières
1. Introduction: Jewish Existence
Covenant Transformations
Covenant and Modernity
The Contemporary Covenantal Crisis
Literary Response to Covenant Crisis
American Judaism and the Holocaust
Contributions of American Jewish Holocaust Novelists
2. Holocaust as Watershed
Holocaust Problematics
Theological Responses
Theology and Literature
Is the Holocaust Beyond Artistic Expression?
Who Should Write of the Holocaust?
Trivializing the Holocaust
American Jewish Writers and the Holocaust: A Critique
The Role of the American Jewish Novelist
3. Holocaust Responses I: Judaism as a Religious Value System
The Holocaust and American Diaspora Jewry
Hasidic Tales
Considering the Evidence
Arthur A. Cohen
Cynthia Ozick
Hugh Nissenson
Elie Wiesel
Isaac B. Singer
Conclusion
4. Holocaust Responses II: Judaism as a Secular Value System
Considering the Evidence
Bernard Malamud
Saul Bellow
Susan F. Schaeffer
Cynthia Ozick
Pre-Holocaust America: Jewish Existence and Covenant Diminishment
Hugh Nissenson
Robert Kotlowitz
Conclusion
5. Holocaust Responses III: Symbolic Judaism
Considering the Evidence
Philip Roth
Richard Elman
Edward Lewis Wallant
Norma Rosen
Bernard Malamud
Conclusion
6. Holocaust and Covenant
The Central Question for Contemporary Judaism
Holocaust Fiction Lato Sensu
Problems and Possibilities
Notes
Index
A propos de l’auteur
Alan L. Berger is Raddock Eminent Scholar Chair of Holocaust Studies and Director of Judaic Studies at Florida Atlantic University. He is the author of Crisis and Covenant: The Holocaust in American Jewish Fiction, also published by SUNY Press; editor of Judaism in the Modern World; and coeditor of Methodology in the Academic Teaching of the Holocaust.
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